by Sheri Poe-Pape

Created on: May 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 04, 2009

During his incredible heyday on the vaudeville circuit and in movies, Curly Howard was the personification of an extremely talented comedian, both in the verbal and physical sense. With uncommon originality in all of his movies, Curly's innovative mind grew immeasurably as his personal life seperated at the seams. Broken marriages and a domineering mother took their toll on the bumbling, yet gentle clown, leading to the demise of a beloved icon.

Although more than fifty years have passed since Curly's death, his popularity has not waned. On the contrary, old and new fans can't seem to get enough of the one Stooge that received more slaps, kicks, and gouges than Larry and Moe combined.

Curly was born Jerome Lester Horowitz, (whose full official Hebrew name was "Yeheudah Lev son of Shelomo Natan the Levite"), to Russian immigrants Solomon Horowitz, a salesman, and Jennie Horowitz, a real estate agent. He was born on October 22, 1903 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, where he was dubbed with the nicknames "Jerry" and 'Babe" by the family at an early age. He was of Levite and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, and was the youngest of five brothers, which included Irving, Jack, Samuel (Shemp), Moses (Moe) and then of course, the "Babe" himself.

As a young child, Curly usually took the brunt of the jokes from Moe and Shemp on a regular basis. Luck was on his side when on one occasion, Jennie Horowitz returned home just in time to catch Moe, armed with a pea shooter, ready to shoot a penny located between little Curly's fingers. But as Curly grew into that plump, wacky mutton-head we have all come to know and love, the tables turned and Moe became the big brother who was always watching out for him.

Curly's first unofficial comedic stint occurred in 1910, shortly after his bar mitzvah while joined by his brothers Shemp and Moe at their Hebrew school, the Congregation Sons of Israel. Their teacher, Dr. Agat, an old, slow-paced gentleman with limited eyesight, happened to enter their old classroom just as the three boys lurched under some old, wooden benches and began making them levitate.

The doctor, sure that he had seen a ghost, hurried to find the rabbi, who returned with the teacher to the classroom just as the bench began rising once more, along with sounds of stifled amusement from below. The rabbi realized who they were dealing with and whispered to Dr. Agat, "Doctor! Don't you know those devils yet? It's the Horowitz boys."

Within their Bensonhurst home, Moe

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